Salvation in the Darkness
by Mikhail Shepard
Summary: The darkness presses closer, he can feel its icy fingers clawing the life from him, but he will stop at nothing to save his muse. Alone in the darkness, with his best friend at his side, Wake fights for his life.


Alan Wake's life had always been a tedious, uphill struggle with fate. He cursed his fate now, as it seemed hell bent on stealing everything that had kept him sane. Ripped from his mundane life of writing action-thrillers, he felt as if he had been tossed into one of Stephen King's earlier works of fiction.

At first, when the horror had begun, when he had lost Alice to the darkness, he had irrationally blamed Alice for it all. After all, it was her fault they had traveled all the way across the country to a small no name town for some "inspiration." If only people had left him to his work, hadn't demanded a new book...

His hands trembled beyond his control, the adrenalin still fresh in his veins form the last run-in with the monster's responsible for Alice's disappearance. The flashlight in his right hand shook and the beam danced across the trees and bushes, his dark eyes following the beacon, his only salvation in the unyielding darkness, like a predator.

Wake looked over his shoulder at his best friend, sighing at the state of him. Barry Wheeler, dressed in a torn, red hunting jacket, a comical array of Christmas lights strapped to his chest and a headlamp atop his balding skull, padded softly silently behind him, his heavy footsteps the only sound in the forest, aside from Wake's own ragged breathing.

With the memory of their most recent misadventure burning in his mind, Wake's hand tightened around the pistol in his jacket pocket, guilt churning in his gut. Barry should have been in New York, safe and sound. Not in the middle of nowhere with monsters trying to flay him at every turn.

"We'll find her, Al," the first words Barry had said in what seemed like an eternity, his voice soft and broken, all traces of his usual haughtiness gone. Wake was so used to seeing the arrogant facade, he actually smiled. It was nice to see he wasn't the only one thrown off by the monsters that lurked in the shadows.

"I know, Barry," Wake replied weakly, dark eyes twitching when he heard an ominous snap to the right. A wash of fear rose in his gut, his flashlight slicing through the darkness like a knife, illuminating the area around him. Even with his salvation gripped tight, only blackness stared back at him, surrounded him, until it felt like he was choking.

Suddenly, the darkness solidified, taking the shape of a man, a grotesque mockery of the real thing. The darkness moved closer and without thinking, he raised the gun. Silver flashed in the faint rays of moonlight and the forest was suddenly alight with deafening gunfire.

Blood roared in his ears, the gunfire silencing after a few short burst, the chamber empty now. Wake knew the Taken weren't real, not flesh and bone, like he or Barry were, but seeing that human form clatter to the ground, bullet holes riddling the chest and face, sent a shiver of disgust down his spine, the urge to vomit so bad he had to press his lips together, teeth clenched tightly.

A warm hand landed on his shoulder, Barry's fingers digging into his jacket, drawing his wide eyes away from the tangled mess that lay at his feet. Black blood pooled out of the wounds and Wake stepped away, eyes staring ahead.

Reloading his revolver mechanically, Wake's eyes searched the forest in front of him, daring more Taken to slid out of the darkness and challenge him, a hoarse scream flying from his lungs as rage clouded his vision. The darkness gave no response to his challenge, silence beating against his ear drums.

Blood dripped into his eyes, the wound on his head tearing open again, and he cursed, whipping it away with the back of his hand. His cheeks flushed with anger as he realized what his childish outburst had caused. His shout had no doubt drawn the attention of dozens of the bastards but nothing would keep him from moving forward and saving Alice.

Fate had stolen from him, stolen his reason for living. He would fight tooth and nail to get his muse back from the darkness that surrounded Bright Falls. Nothing, not fate, not the darkness, not the Taken, would take Alice away from him. Nothing could keep him from saving her.

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**Author's Note: **Please review :3 Don't hold back on me, I need to know what I can do to improve my writing. I am sorry XD I had to edit this several times because I found mistakes. It's a little late, but that is no excuse for spelling errors. If you find anymore, tell me.


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